Morphological and phylogenetic characterisation of Unicauda tavaresii n. sp. (Myxosporea: Myxobolidae): a parasite of the circumorbital tissue of the eye of two characiform fishes from the Amazon region of Brazil.

Myxozoans of the family Myxobolidae are common parasites in fish. The diversity and ecology of the species of the genus Unicauda are poorly known, which hampers the understanding of the distribution and prevalence of this group of parasites. In the present study, cysts containing parasites whose morphology was consistent with the genus Unicauda were found in the circumorbital region of the ocular conjunctiva of the freshwater fish Moenkhausia grandisquamis Müller & Troschel, 1845 (Characiformes: Characidae) and Triportheus angulatus Spix & Agassiz, 1829 (Characiformes: Triportheidae). The spores have an oval body and long caudal appendage, with a mean total length of 65.2 ± 5.9 μm and width of 5.2 ± 0.7 μm, with two oval and symmetrical polar capsules of 4.9 ± 0.5 μm in length and 1.4 ± 0.2 μm in width, containing polar filaments with five or six coils. An integrated comparative analysis of the morphological characteristics of this parasite and partial sequences of the SSU rDNA gene supported the identification of a new species of histozoic parasite of the genus Unicauda found in fish from the Tocantins River basin, in the eastern Brazilian Amazon region. The new species was denominated by Unicauda tavaresii n. sp.